Japan’s Trade Deficit Rockets

The Japanese economy continues to slip into oblivion, having been passed as the world’s second largest by gross domestic product, a position it gave to China. Perhaps, it will lose another spot to Germany, if the recession in the Asian nations remains.

A rebound in Japan’s exports in January failed to keep pace with growth in imports, leaving a record 1.63 trillion yen ($17.4B) trade deficit.

The provisional data released Wednesday show exports for the world’s third-biggest economy rose 6.4 percent to 4.8 trillion yen ($51.2 billion) in January from a year earlier while imports jumped 7.3 percent to 6.43 trillion yen ($68.6 billion.)

A weakening in Japan’s currency over the past few months has helped boost export shipments by making its products more price competitive overseas. But it has also inflated the value of resource-scarce Japan’s imports of crude oil and other commodities, which offset a recovery in demand for Japanese-made vehicles and machinery.